Never Retire - Working In Retirement Research, From China, Does It Apply To The Western World?
Because there’s lots of solid working in retirement research coming across my desk (which is usually a bed, couch or kitchen table!), I’m focusing on it before continuing our series on alternative strategies to traditional retirement.
You can access the series—and everything else we’ve covered so far—in the Never Retire archive.
I’m careful when including research from other countries. Particularly because of the sociocultural differences between the United States and most of the rest of the world.
That said, we can consider valuable insights from work done elsewhere. Even China.
Here are the results from a Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine paper that assessed how working in retirement impacted the mental health of men and women who reached retirement age in China. For the record, in China retirement age for men is 60 and older. For women, it’s 55 or older.
If we broaden this finding, it tells me the type of work, how often you do it, and the circumstances around that work dictate levels of physical activity and social contact, which can impact mental health.
This underscores the importance of embracing the reality that you’ll Never Retire and preparing for it from a work standpoint sooner rather than later.
If you hate your job when you’re 30 or 40, it’s hard to imagine it will positively impact your mental health in your 50s, 60s, and beyond. Plus there’s the issue of sustainability. What type of work can you physically and mentally handle—and enjoy—in relative old age?
The key points to consider as you situate yourself to work in retirement:
The question in bold, plus does the work produce worthwhile cash flow if you need it?
Does the work leave time for non-work physical and social activity—enjoying life, exercising, travel, etc.?
To that end, can you take frequent breaks from your work—of various durations (hours in a day and days, weeks, months at a time)—or sprinkle work in at easy intervals throughout your semi-retired life?
Bringing it back to the research.
And differences between US and not necessarily Chinese, but certainly European culture.
Working your ass off at your job—your source of cash flow—doesn’t tend to foster a nice transition into leisure time.
Rather than grind it out only to take a breath into a stressful vacation, aim for work that feels seamless. That almost feels like an extension of your leisure time.
This is one key element of semi-retirement. There isn’t this stark demarcation between work and leisure. If you’ve ever overworked yourself you know what I mean.
This might be why an increasing number of retirees and even younger Americans are taking their work-life balance elsewhere. In countries where attitudes toward work and the facilitation of social life start from intrinsically healthier mindsets. A lower cost of living in many of these places also helps.
We’ll cover both when we do continue the aforementioned strategic alternatives to traditional retirement series.